BROOKINGS, S.D. - Part two of Western Illinois volleyball's (3-14, 2-4) heavy week of road matches saw the Leathernecks visit South Dakota State (10-6, 2-3) on Thursday evening (Oct. 7). Having dropped the match's first two sets, WIU made a notable comeback win in the third period but were downed in four (23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 17-25).

"I thought there was once again a good balance of fight from both our younger and older players," said WIU head coach Ben Staupe. "Brittany gave us some great minutes, and we did a solid job defensively in how we out-dug them."

After being down 6-1 early in the first set, Western found itself cutting into SDSU's lead on a few errors from the Jackrabbits. Back-to-back service aces by Erika Moore had her Leathernecks trailing on 11-10, and a spurt of traded kills soon began. Brittany Wulf went up for a powerful kill to make the first tied score of the night, 17-17, resulting in a timeout called by SDSU. Attacks by Kennedy Davis and Aubrey Putman helped Western take its first lead, 21-19. A couple of more even scores happened down the final stretch of possessions, as SDSU handed out an ace to win 25-23.

Down in set two, WIU surged on a 4-0 run to tie the margin at 7-7. Wulf continued to shine as a bright spot -- delivering efficient hits. After a few successful tries, SDSU was again hurt by team errors, and Western stood close by, down 13-11. The Jackrabbits increased their advantage, highlighted by back-to-back service aces, to go up 21-14. Kalynn Davis responded with two consecutive aces of her own, and Wulf pounded an aggressive kill to cut SDSU's lead to 21-18. Bowman's anchoring defense and Kennedy Davis' clever attacks gave WIU a few more times at it, but the team fell just short once again in the period, 25-23.

Having given the Leathernecks some valuable play in the second set, Emma Norris kept it going early in the third, with Western down 10-7. A mix of kills and errors on both sides then began surfacing, leading up to a personal burst by Kennedy Davis that helped WIU take an 18-16 advantage on an 8-1 boost. Led by Bowman and Norris, Western completed its admirable come-from-behind fight to secure set three, 25-21.

Wulf continued to make sure her presence was felt in set four, as Western trailed 10-9. SDSU leaped ahead a bit more, 14-11, and then strung a 4-0 run to go up 19-13. Norris and Kennedy Davis played heady to give WIU some additional points, but the host ended the night on a final 5-0 finish.

Wulf went on to set a new career-high in kills (14). For the second time in as many matches, Maggie Craker finished with a line of 40 assists (tied for a career-high) and 11 digs. The Davis sisters, Kennedy and Kalynn, finished with 11 and seven kills, respectively. Kalynn also added three service aces. Norris contributed 10 kills. 

Five different Leathernecks reached double-figures in digs, with Karli Wenzel leading the way (17). The team finished with a 73-73 advantage over SDSU in that category.

WIU finishes out its road week this Saturday (Oct. 9) -- visiting South Dakota for a 10:30 a.m. start time.